A Minnesota PBS Initiative
Huế masacre of 7,000 civilians by Communitists
Mr. Dien and his wife, Twin Cities residents, are survivors of the 1968 Tet Offensive massacre in Huế. For weeks, from 7,000 to 7,800 unarmed mostly male civilians between 12 and 60 were gathered together at schools or public parks and tied up in bundles of 12-15 with phone cords. They were taken on trucks to an open field where huge graves had been dug. The communutists soldiers used steel shovel to crack their skulls open then pushed the bundles into the graves. Others were buried alive or chopped up with machetes.
Now the Huế (Thua Thiên) Association in MN commemorate these dead by lighting up candles every year at its Tet New Year celebration in the Twin Cities.
This story is part of Stories About The Tet Offensive. Go to the collection.
Story Themes: Bloomington, Civilian, Death and Loss, Dien Hoang, Ha Tuong, Hue Massacre, Refugee, Tet Offensive, Vietnamese, Watch